The Ternvag, a oil/product tanker owned by the Danish company Terntank, was the most sustainable vessel to dock in Rotterdam in 2014, according to the Environmental Ship Index (ESI). Last year 1413 ships with a high entry in the Environmental Ship Index arrived in Rotterdam. In total, the Port Authority paid out €1.2 million on these sustainable vessels.
Ternvag is a tanker built in 2003. At the request of de charterer – the Swedish oil company Preem – the vessel has been fitted with so-called SCR (selective catalytic reduction) for the engines. That is a post-combustion technology used to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Terntank has currently commissioned the development of 4 LNG-driven product tankers. ‘In 2016 one of these ships will also be sailing for Preem. So we want to win the prize for the most sustainable vessel in Rotterdam again in 2017,’ says Tryggve Möller, director of Terntank. ‘We see the prize as an endorsement of our policy to use clean ships. Rotterdam is a sustainable port and the largest in Europe.’
Port Authority embraces ESI
Granting a bonus to vessels with a high entry in the ESI is in line with Port Authority’s policy to become the most sustainable port of its kind. This is also why the Port Authority is working on the transition from fuel oil to LNG as a fuel for shipping. The Port Authority supports the Terntank initiative to start using vessels which run on LNG. Such vessels have been receiving double the ESI bonus since 2015, because they have very low NOx emissions.
Top 5 ESI in Rotterdam in 2014
- Ternvag oil/product tanker
- Bit Oktania chemical tanker
- Olympus oil/product tanker
- Tharsis general cargo vessel
- OOCL Berlin container vessel
Environmental Ship Index
The ESI is a certificate that has been issued since 1 January 2011 by the World Port Climate Initiative, at the request of ship owners. The index is an indication of the environmental performance of vessels based on their emissions of air pollutants (NOx and SOx) and CO2. Ports and other nautical service providers throughout the world can use the index to reward ships and, in this way, encourage sustainable behaviour in the shipping industry. Thirty-six ports and other nautical service providers already give ‘ESI vessels’ with a certain score a bonus. These include ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, Los Angeles, New York, Sohar, Vancouver, and – since two weeks ago – Tokyo.
The World Ports Climate Initiative is a collective of 55 prominent ports which work actively to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions in particular. It does so under the auspices of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, the international lobby group for seaports.
Source and Image Credit: Port of Rotterdam
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